Belt for wearing apparel



J. L. BAILEN BELT FOR WEARING APPAREL May 13, 1952 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 Filed. Feb.. 2e, 194s May 13, 1952 J. l.. BAILEN A2,596,884

- i BELT FOR WEARING APPAREL Filed Feb.A 26, y194s 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 ///////7///////////y/r /l Patented May 13, 1952 UNITE-D STATES y, ATsNT -LfoFFIeE J` "islfrfFonelection.

lessees il cago, Ill.

4 1 I This invention relates ftd belts' iorwearingnapparel, and more particularly tof-'the problem of `providing decorative or'nov'eltyifetures irriconnection with said belts.

According to'the*presentinventionai belt is provided in which ati-'least` th'erouter-face bf-:the belt is of transparent nature, the back-side of "this outer face beingprovided-'withpockets or other retainingfmearrs so-f'farrangedthatlthe owner ofthe belt-may insert ra-Tplura-lity `foil closely 'dicia' such as letters, vll'ri'irn'e'r'als or photographs which Will bevisibl'e throughftlie outer face of the belt and produce? a* decorative or'fnoveltyeffect,

as may be desired." vIi'etters'-may beused 1tospell names or words.' Sonie'pral'ctical' and relatively vlFig. 2.

' Fig. 4 is afragirientaryroar'view Sofanother form of the inventionfth'e lettersshovving `as in a front view. l

Fig. 5 is afragmentaryhorizontalsectional view taken alongthe line` 5-125of Fig. 4.

6 being a fragmentary perspective, Fig; 7 a fragmentary longitudinlsection; and Fig. 8^-a vertical section.

lAlthough the lawlreqiires afull adxact description of at leastone 'foin 'of the'finvention, such as that which follow'sfit i'sjofv coursethe purpose of a patent to' 'covereachinewfinventive `concept therein no matter fhoW i't-ma'y llater be rdisguised by variations in vform 'or-additions of further' improvements laridi-)he appende'dclaims are intended "to accomplishftliis'purpos'e by 'partcularly pointing" out'the partsiimpiiovments or combinations in vv'hich theinv'entive-concepts lare found. A u y The forms of the'beltchbsen for illustration in Figs. 1-5 are formed from a single-sheet 'bfi-transparent plastic. 'frnis'fsheet .isfoideufatfthe bot- .'tom `'to provide 'an A4outer'*layer FII-'afnd anff'inner "layer l2. Thertwolayers are-joined together along a plurality of spaced vertical lines I3 to --iormpockets mi:3 newness-'pockets may be inserted -'an'y desired f \su-bsta'nti'allyr Liiatr `items l 6.

UUsuallythese-'items -w-ill befla't pieceslof paper or cardboard #bearing Lletters ofthe alphabet, nu-

morals or photographs. In belts owned by young "will usually bebaseb-all players-. -Inthecourse-of time' the'boys will probablyfpreier photographs of girls. When'letters are usezlitlrieyl may appropriately spelllth'e name ofthe owner orV perhaps the name of hiss'chool or sometimes-'a slogan. `For thepur'po's'e of- -forming such 'names orwords, it lis highly desirable that'the letters be-closely spaced alon'gfthe belt. Y' Accordingly the pockets should be separated as little as fpossible. Cerv tainly the invention would n'ot be-fullyfutilized if` they Were separated more than halfthe width of the pockets.

Y Therv pockets'fmay lprobably bel formed most economically by adhesionffalongtheselected lines separatingi the' pockets.VV This' may be accomplished byl heat sealing if a suitable -plastic-material is used, or by cementing along these lines if preferred, or if -the'- material doesnot lend itself 'readily to heat sealing. 'The -cementing may be conned-tothe desired lines vvby printing the cement or Isolvent upon the 'bel-t along the selected lines. Y

' AOne of the-types of adhesion referred to is vpreferred not only ioneconorny; but because it provides a very neat belt with littleor no weakening by the formation of Jthe pockets'. -Both layers of the belt will cooperate to give'thebelt strength. Y The portion ofthe belt'vvhicih passes through the buckle and that WhichiS'secUred to the buckle may be-forrned into a single layer, in effect, by 'adhering the entire' surfaces of the two layers'of `these portions of the belt.

Instead 'of 'using another "sheet kfolded at the bottom, the belt may be formed of two sheets adheredtogether along the bottom.

Instead of adhesion,i stitches vmaybr-used 'whereveradhesion has been` indicated.- In: the 'case of longitudinal stitches, fit lis probable-that'either an elastic thread should-b used or-that the stitches should extend diagonally yso 'that stitching ofthe `tongues j2 I extending toward;one-r anothen V'The insert IB `4'will lbesuiiicientlye heldfbetween these tongues by the layers 22 and 23 of thebelt, either of which may be the outer layer. The two layers may be formed from one sheet or from two sheets, as `discussed in connection with Figs. l to 3.

If desired, there may be more than two folds of the belt. For example, the outer layer Il could fold down over the fold l2. This would have the advantage of closing the pocket I4 so that there would be little likelihood that dirt or dust would enter the pocket in noticeable quantities. If the plastic is heat-creased so that the nap has a decided tendency to fold in the right position and lie along the inner side of the belt, it is believed that fastening of the nap will be unnecessary. However, snap fasteners, slide fasteners or other securing means may be provided if preferred.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show a form of the invention which is at present preferred. In this form, two plastic strips 3| and 32 are shown, although theoretically one strip folded over could be used. The face strip 3l is of transparent plastic. The back strip 32 is preferably of similar plastic, although whether it is transparent or not is largely a matter of choice. This back strip 32 is preferably provided with apertures 33 spaced according to the spacing of the pockets. The two layers 3| and 32 are sealed together along the bottom edge, along the top edge, and along vertical lines between the apertures 33. Thus individual pockets are formed which are closed on the top, bottom and two sides but which have openings 33 adjacent to the top. Such a pocket could be regarded as open at the top thereof. There is less tendency for it to collect dirt on the front side of the insert I6 than if the pocket were completely open at the top.

A belt formed in this manner has a very attractive appearance. The heat sealing along the four edges of each insert appears to frame each insert, at least if the heat sealing is accomplished with sufcient pressure to form grooves 34. Even if the grooves are almost entirely in the back face of the rear strip 32, they will nevertheless be visible through the front of the belt, at least if both strips 3| and 32 are transparent.

The end portion of the belt which goes through the buckle may also be framed by heat sealed lines 36 along its periphery and preferably along the longitudinal center line 31. The latter is especially desirable if a tongue type of buckle is used, as heat sealingalong this center line will prevent the tongue from catching between the two layers 3l and 32.

Although the aperture 33 has been shown as a triangular aperture, it could be formed by one or more mere slits. Thus the two lower sides of the triangular aperture could be cut, leaving a flap secured to the upper edge zone of the belt. This flap would tend to close the aperture 33 so as to minimize the accumulation of dirt in the pocket.

Although best utilization of the invention requires that the entire body of the belt, except the inserts, be formed of plastic, certain aspects of the invention can be used by forming-only the outer layer of plastic. In that event the inner layer could be fabric or leather or any other suitable belting material.

It is not necessary that the plastic be fully transparent. The translucent effect similar to that of frosted glass will have adequate transparency characteristics when the insert is pressed against the inner surface of the outer layer of the belt. Of course a clear, transparent plastic will give still greater visibility and will in other respects be more attractive to the eye.

If the belt is to be used for garment support, as in the case of mens belts, the material used should have a fairly good tensile strength. Most men probably also desire a substantial amount of resilient stretchability. Clear plastics heretofore used for belts would be suitable. Others may be chosen by plastics experts. A material noted for ready heat sealing and suiiciently transparent for the purpose of this invention, and regarded as otherwise suitable, is rubber hydrochloride as is used in Pliolm- Another material which has been found to be quite satisfactory is Vinylite, VU-1940 clear. Information from the manufacturers indicates that this is a vinyl chloride acetate resin with dioctylphthalate as a plasticizer. The information is that the quantity of this plasticizer used is approximately 32% of the total weight and that about of the remainder is vinyl chloride, the rest being vinyl acetate. It is not believed that the choice of plastics need be considered a part of the present invention, but the foregoing is stated in order to make the fullest possible disclosure. This Vinylite is a clear and fairly elastic material, easily heat sealed.

I claim:

1. A waist belt for wearing apparel having front and rear layers, at least one of which extends substantially the full length of the belt substantially throughout its width, said layers being secured together along narrow spaced vertically extending areas to form a plurality of pockets at closely spaced positions along a substantial length of the belt, said pockets having openings adapting them to receive inserts bearing letters to spell words, and the front layer of said belt having transparent characteristics to make visible the inserts against the inner faces of said front layer.

2. A vwaist belt for wearing apparel having front and rear layers, atleast one of which extends substantially the full length of the belt substantially throughout its width, said layers being secured together along narrow spaced vertically extending areas to form a plurality of pockets at closely spaced positions along a substantial length of the belt, said pockets having openings adapting them to receive inserts bearing letters to spell words, and the front layer of said belt having transparent characteristics to make visible the inserts against the inner faces of said front layer and said pockets being closed along at least their bottoms and the opening in each being positioned at an upper portion thereof.

3. A waist belt for wearing apparel having front and rear layers, at least one of which extends substantially the full length of the belt substantially throughout its width, said layers being secured together along narrow spaced vertically extending areas to form a plurality of pockets at closely spaced positions along a substantial 'length of the belt, said pockets having openings adapting them to receive inserts bearing letters to spell words, and the front layer of said belt having transparent characteristics to make visible the inserts against the inner faces of said front layer, the rear layer having a series of openings therethrough for inserting the inserts into the pockets and the pockets being otherwise substantially closed.

4. A Waist beltA for wearing apparel having front and rear layers, each extending substantially the full length of the belt Vsubstantially throughout its Width, said layers being secured together along narrow spaced vertically extending areas to form a plurality of pockets at closely spaced positions along a substantial length of the belt, said pockets having openings adapting them to receive inserts bearing letters to spell words, and the front layer of said belt having transparent characteristics to make visible the inserts against the inner faces of said front layer.

5. A strap construction for personal Wear having front and rear layers, at least one of which extends substantially the full length of the strap substantially throughout its width, said layers being secured together along narrow spaced vertically extending areas to form a plurality of pockets at closely spaced positions along a substantial length of the strap, said pockets having openings adapting them to receive iiat inserts bearing decorative matter, and the front layer of said strap having transparent characteristics to make visible the inserts against the inner faces of said front layer.

JACOB L. BAILEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 688,149 Butler Dec. 3, 1901 1,060,229 Casper and Clark Apr. 29, 1913 1,071,226 Goodsell & Maynard Aug. 26, 1913 1,502,414 Washuk July 22, 1924 1,766,604 Cohen June 24, 1930 2,025,886 Nordstrom Dec. 31, 1935 2,445,889 Rossi et al July 27, 1948 

